Rio de Janeiro: A homeless couple turned over to police a bag containing about 20,000 reais ($10,000) that they found abandoned on a street in Brazil's largest city, authorities said.

The couple, who have been living together for about four months under a bridge in eastern Sao Paulo and support themselves by selling recyclable trash, approached a security guard in the early hours on Sunday and asked him to call the police to report the find.

The couple said that they were sleeping when they heard an alarm, apparently from a nearby shop, and looked out to see what was happening.

They saw the bag with the money lying near a bus stop on a main thoroughfare in the eastern part of the city.

Rejaniel Silva Santos, 36, said that the first thing he thought about when he saw all the money in the bag was to call the police.

The man, who earns about 15 reais ($7.50) per day for recycling trash, said that the only thing he wants is for his mother, who lives in the northern state of Maranhao, to see him on television.

"My mother taught me that I must not steal and to tell the police if I see anyone doing anything (illegal). If she sees me on TV there in Maranhao she'll know that her son is still one of the honest people in the world," he said.

Police said that besides the money, inside the bag were checks and receipts that enabled them to determine that it was money stolen last week from a Japanese restaurant.